Career Summary

Biography

Hugh has developed extensive expertise in cell and molecular profiling technologies based on metabolomics for the measurement of metabolites in cell systems including bacteria as well as mammalian tissues and fluids. The analytical approaches have been developed over the last 25 years and have primarily focused on gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The approaches have extended our capacity to undertake complex organic analyses to determine the impacts of environmental parameters on metabolism and health. Over the last 25 years, a cell and molecular profiling laboratory has been established for the Metabolic Research Group, which is specifically configured for biological research and contains two GC-MS units and two gas chromatographs (FID and ECD) with associated reference databases for metabolite identification. This represents a valuable facility for studying the impact of environmental factors on metabolism across two major areas of research focus:

1. Investigating how pathogenic bacteria respond to subtle changes in the environment in the human wound site. Studies have revealed that staphylococci display remarkable capacities to continually adjust to small changes in pH, temperature and salt by altering membrane composition and cytoplasmic homeostasis.

a) The responses to these stressors appear to modulate the bacterial phenotypes to the extent where highly resistant forms can be generated under certain conditions which could provide a basis to understanding multi-drug resistance in chronic infections.

b) The multivariate models of research have also provided some insight as to how pathogens can exist long term within the host via intracellular invasion mechanisms or the formation of biofilms on prosthetic implants.

2. Investigating anomalies in metabolic homeostasis associated with fatigue. Measurements of key nutrients lost during via sweat and urine have indicated that these avenues of loss can have adverse impacts on muscle stores of proteins. Investigations have utilised 3 models for investigation;

The studies provided evidence that when supplementation is undertaken to provide key nutrients identified as components lost via sweat and urination, there were notable improvements in fatigue and recovery from exercise. In addition, it was found that not all people (or horses), have the same requirements.

The research capacity of this specialised unit has led to numerous multidisciplinary research collaborations with medical specialists and environmental scientists which have all resulted in associated peer review publications. This work could not be carried out by either partner on their own, but together the associations represented truly functional multidisciplinary investigations. The specialised laboratory has made an excellent learning environment for PhD students to learn state-of-the art techniques in metabolomics and develop professional skills in experimental design, quality control and data processing skills. A major outcome has been the development of skills in multivariate analyses required for metabolomics and similar approaches to measuring complex cellular responses.

Research ExpertiseThe primary research focus for RHD has been to use organic and elemental analyses to investigate changes in biochemical homeostasis. The technology platform has facilitated several successful multidisciplinary collaborations which have resulted in publications spanning the fields of ecotoxicology, biotechnology, metabolism and disease research. The research activities fall under 3 types: (1) Basic research: method development has been a critical component and has included the investigation of how the changing environment influences metabolic homeostasis in staphylococcal species.

Areas of expertise include: a. Multifactorial experimental design b. Extractions of cells and the surrounding medium for the analyses of fatty acids, organic acids, amino acids and sugars. c. Analyses by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry and gas chromatography – flame ionisation detection. (2) Clinical research: collaborations have been made with clinicians to investigate potential anomalies in biochemical homeostasis associated with persistent fatigue. Three research models have been developed: a. The investigation of non-fatigued patients undergoing radiotherapy for cancer where 30-40% end up with significant fatigue post treatment. This give insight to the changes in homeostasis associated with the onset of fatigue. b. The investigation of fatigue generated by athletes under defined exercise regimes and climate conditions to assess the nutrient losses and catabolic responses related to muscle fatigue. c. The investigation of race horses with highly defined training regimes and diets to assess nutrient losses via sweating and the efficacy of amino acid supplementation to reduce demand on catabolism in the muscles. These 2 areas of research activities have considerable overlap and have facilitated new approaches to metabolic research by developing a capacity for multivariate analyses of complex biochemical and microbial datasets.

Teaching ExpertiseHugh has taught first year Biology, second year biochemistry and third year Microbiology for 17 years before becoming Head of School in 2007. The topic areas for biology included: • basic biological chemistry concepts • structure of nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids • an overview of the diversity of bacteria and archaea • interactions for various symbioses • an overview of aquatic and terrestrial microbes. In addition, Hugh contributed to the development of the professional lab skills courses in biology which aimed to deliver high quality laboratory based training with enhanced resource support at both the 2nd year and 3rd year levels. The second year course aims to provide a range of basic analytical skills for microbiology, biochemistry and molecular biology, as well as for the animal, plant and ecology systems. The third year level courses represent an exciting new concept in undergraduate teaching, where the timetables have been arranged to accommodate 3 day sessions where the students complete an extensive and challenging project. These sessions are designed to reinforce the use of the basic techniques provided in the second year course and teach them concepts in experimental design and data interpretation Course Development As Head of School of Environmental and Life Sciences, I have been responsible for a program of course rationalisation within the Biology Discipline and across a range of other degree programs within the school. The focus was to devise a delivery platform that provided a diverse range of Biology topics and provided specialised laboratory training for those choosing to major in Biology. This has been achieved by instigating a number of innovations where only those who have need for laboratory training sit the new series of Professional Skills courses offered in first year, second and third years. Other students whom we service for psychology, engineering or environmental studies who do not require such training receive high levels of education in their chosen biological subjects via lectures, tutorials and web-based learning systems. This has enabled a far more effective use of funds with higher than average staff to student ratios. Postgraduate Training Hugh has been involved in the training of Honours research students in the laboratory as well as PhD students. This level of training relates to instruction in scientific philosophy, experimental design, data processing, statistics, data interpretation and scientific writing. These students learn how to review the literature on a constructive basis and become competent at various biochemical, analytical and microbial techniques. Issues of quality assurance and performance accuracy are developed as major aspects of the research projects.

Administrative ExpertiseRHD has held several administration roles over the period of employment at the University of Newcastle, including membership of the Biohazards Technical Sub-Committee (1994-2001). In more recent years, the administrative involvement has focused more on roles relating to University Governance. --Head of School, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, 2007 - present --Deputy Head of School, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, 2004 - 7 --Assistant Dean for Community Relations (2003-2004) --Head of School of Environmental and Life Sciences (2007- present) The School of Environmental and Life Sciences is a very large school encompassing the disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, Geography, Earth Sciences, Environmental Science and management, and Applied Sciences across both of the university's campuses at Callaghan and Ourimbah. The diverse teaching areas, philosophies and areas of expertise lead to complex budget and management arrangements. The diverse nature of the school generates significant challenges for effectively managing budgets and developing fruitful strategic policies. As HOS, I sit on the Faculty Executive Committee, the Faculty Board, the Faculty strategic planning committee and I chair the school executive committee. Essentially I am responsible for managing over 60 academic staff and delivering a wide range of undergraduate degree programs including 5 majors within the BSc, B Biotechnology and the B Environmental Science and Management. The management responsibilities include: o Management of Budgets o Part time teaching allocations o Chemicals consumables budget for teaching o Establishing spreadsheets for modelling, predicting and monitoring expenditure o Managing RHD student completions o Approval and processing of RHD scholarship applications o Course rationalisation, program review and resource management o Review discipline course structure with a view to decrease face-to-face hours for academics o Manage staff workload o Develop good practice for OH&S in the teaching and research environment.

CollaborationsThe development of cell and molecular profiling (CMP) techniques for studying alterations in homeostasis following exposures to various forms of stress. The research requires multidisciplinary collaboration with colleagues in the School of Environmental and Life Sciences as well as in other national and international institutions. The primary foci of research interests includes: - The investigation of metabolic responses by staphylococci to alterations in environmental parameters which mimic the human wound site. - The assessment of nutrient losses under controlled exercise or disease conditions as a model for understanding the biochemical basis of fatigue. The primary collaboration occurs between colleagues at the University of Gothenburg.

Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Oxford - UK

Bachelor of Science (Agriculture), University of Adelaide

Keywords

Amino acids

Bacterial metabolism

Biochemistry

Biology

Chronic fatigue illness

Metabolic homeostasis

Metabolic profiling

Microbiology

Pathogenic Bacteria

The metabolic basis for fatigue

Fields of Research

Code

Description

Percentage

050299

Environmental Science and Management not elsewhere classified

50

060501

Bacteriology

20

090799

Environmental Engineering not elsewhere classified

30

Professional Experience

UON Appointment

Title

Organisation / Department

Professor

University of NewcastleSchool of Environmental and Life SciencesAustralia

Academic appointment

Dates

Title

Organisation / Department

1/07/2012 -

Head of School

University of NewcastleSchool of Environmental and Life SciencesAustralia

1/07/2007 - 1/06/2012

Head of School

University of NewcastleSchool of Environmental and Life SciencesAustralia

1/01/2002 - 1/06/2012

Associate Professor

University of NewcastleSchool of Environmental and Life SciencesAustralia

Dunstan RH, Sparkes DL, Roberts TK, Dascombe BJ, 'Preliminary Evaluations of a Complex Amino Acid Supplement, Fatigue Reviva, to Reduce Fatigue in a Group of Professional Male Athletes and a Group of Males Recruited from the General Public', Food and Nutrition Sciences, 5 231-235 (2014) [C1]

Evans CA, Coombes PJ, Dunstan RH, Harrison TL, 'Identifying the major influences on the microbial composition of roof harvested rainwater and the implications for water quality', Water Science and Technology, 55 245-253 (2007) [C1]

Background: The diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) requires the exclusion of other known fatigue-related diseases because the core symptoms of CFS represent a general hos... [more]

Background: The diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) requires the exclusion of other known fatigue-related diseases because the core symptoms of CFS represent a general host response to many well-defined diseases. The patient set derived by this process is heterogeneous in their polysymptomatic presentation and has proved very difficult to study clinically and scientifically. Objectives: To investigate the alterations in urine excretion and microbiology in patients with CFS. Results: CFS patients had multiple anomalies in their amino and organic acid homeostasis. Sub-groups of CFS patients could be delineated on the basis of their urine excretion and their symptom presentation. The most common feature was an active muscle catabolism resulting in a depletion of amino acids and associated organic and keto-acids. The extent of muscle catabolism was directly correlated to pain severity. The carriage of toxin-producing coagulase negative staphylococci (MDT-CoNS) was strongly correlated with the catabolic response and pare severity. Conclusions: An hypothesis has been constructed where an occult pathogen, such as MDT-CoNS, may be an aetiological agent contributing to the sustenance of a chronic fatigue/pain disorder, a comorbid pathogen. Urine analysis offers an opportunity for assessment of muscle catabolism and sub-classification of chronic fatigue patients leading to a number of management options. The detection of MDT-CoNS identifies potentially treatable agents that contribute to the fatigue and pain condition.

A previous investigation of a cohort of 20 chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients revealed an increased urinary excretion of an unusual metabolite, tentatively identified as amino-hydroxy-N-methyl-pyrrolidine (coded CFSUM1) and Ã-alanine, compared with 45 control subjects. The relative abundances of both CFSUM1 and Ã-alanine were positively associated with the core diagnostic symptoms of CFS and associated changes in amino and organic acid excretion. The psychological attributes of these CFS patients and controls were assessed in this study by using the Symptom Check List-90- revised (SCL-90-R) psychological inventory. The CFS patients had increases in the SCL-90-R somatization, obsessive compulsive, depression, anxiety and phobic anxiety dimension scores. Nineteen of 20 CFS patients had somatization T-scores = 63 (P < 0.0001), suggestive of a somatization disorder. Multiple regression analysis indicated that somatization was the most important SCL- 90-R-defined dimension discriminating CFS from control subjects. Depression and anxiety were not found to be important inter-group determinants. The dimension scores were each related to specific changes in the urinary excretion of organic and amino acids, suggesting that each is biochemically distinct and has an organic basis. Cluster analysis of dimension profiles revealed that the profile with increased prevalence (P < 0.0001) in CFS patients was associated with increased excretion of CFSUM1 (P < 0.005) and had increases in somatization, obsessive compulsion and depression dimension scores. The PSDI as a measure of SCL-90-R symptom severity was positively correlated with CFSUM1 (model P < 0.003). CFSUM1 was also the primary correlate for the somatization dimension (model P < 0.0008), but was not associated with any other SCL-90-R-defined dimension. Another unidentified urinary metabolite, coded UM15, was the primary correlate for depression (model P < 0.0004) and was associated with multiple dimension elevations by both cluster and logistic regression analysis; the excretion of this compound was unrelated to CFSUM1. These results indicated that, in this CFS cohort, the SCL-90-R defined psychological changes were strongly associated with changes in the biochemical homeostasis of patients, suggestive of an organic basis to CFS.

A study was undertaken to assess the ability of the erythrocyte to provide protection to other tissues against oxidative damage, Radiolabelled (51Cr) human umbilical vein endothel... [more]

A study was undertaken to assess the ability of the erythrocyte to provide protection to other tissues against oxidative damage, Radiolabelled (51Cr) human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were incubated with erythrocytes and neutrophils activated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). Damage to the endothelial cells was indicated by release of radioactivity into the suspending medium. We found that the co-incubation of HUVEC with an increasing range of erythrocyte concentrations resulted in a dose dependent reduction in the release of radioactivity. These data suggest that the erythrocytes afforded some protection against endothelial cell damage by the activated neutrophils. When PMA-activated neutrophils were incubated with erythrocytes, the erythrocytes had reduced levels of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (p < 0.01) and glutathione (p < 0.01) compared with erythrocytes incubated alone, indicating utilisation of antioxidant potential. The same erythrocytes had increased concentrations of the oxidative damage products, malondialdehyde (p < 0.02) and methaemoglobin (p < 0.002). These data support the hypothesis that erythrocytes can provide antioxidant protection to other tissues.

We have recently proposed that the eiythran acts as a major deactivate! of reactive free radical species in vivo in addition to its recognised role of gas transport (1). The expen... [more]

We have recently proposed that the eiythran acts as a major deactivate! of reactive free radical species in vivo in addition to its recognised role of gas transport (1). The expendable nature of the individual erythrocyte would be a desirable attribute for such a detoxification unit As a consequence of this function, the labile components of individual erythrocytes would suffer oxidative damage over a period of time leading to biochemical and structural changes. The alterations, including those to membrane integrity, would be reflected by changes in shape and function. To test this hypothesis, radiolabelled ("Cor) human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEQ, were incubated with neutrophils activated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and red cells. Damage to the endothelial cells, indicated by release of radioactivity into the suspending medium, was proportionately reduced by increasing concentrations of erythrocytes. Erythrocytes, modified so that Superoxide was unable to cross the membrane or so that the glutathione or catalase mechanism was inactive, were less efficient at preventing release of radioactivity. Erythrocytes incubated with PMA activated neutrophils contained less 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) (p=0.01), less glutathione (p=0.01), more malondialdehyde (p=0.02) and more methaemoglobin (p=0.002) than those incubated alone or with unactivated neutrophils. The depleted 2,3-DPG and glutathione are presumably the result of the acute oxidative stress in this environment We have found increased levels of these metabolites in erythrocytes from chronically stressed environments such as rheumatoid arthritis or renal dialysis presumably to compensate for the increased demand. These findings demonstrate that erythrocytes undergo biochemical changes in environments of high oxidative stress and support our hypothesis that they behave as free radical scavengers under certain conditions.

A visual analog pain scale and scalar responses to 13 pain/symptom indicator Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) questions were used to assess symptom prevalence and pain severity in 43 chronic orofacial muscle pain patients and 40 control subjects. The orofacial muscle pain group reported pain in an axial skeletal distribution; neurocognitive, gastrogenitourinary, and musculoskeletal symptoms; infectious events at or preceding onset; similar symptoms in sexual partners; and low prevalence of trauma. Sudden onset was reported by 30.2% of pain patients. Strong associations were found between chronic orofacial muscle pain and (1) onset-related infectiouslike events (67.4%); (2) a higher prevalence of history of respiratory and gastrogenitourinary infectious events; and (3) high prevalences of similar pain symptoms in long-term sexual partners. The SCL-90-R somatization scores (> 62) had a higher prevalence in the chronic pain group. No prevalence differences or associations with pain/symptom indicators were found for depression or anxiety dimension scores. These data suggest that patients with recurrent systemic infectious events have a higher prevalence of reporting of chronic orofacial muscle pain compared with control subjects, and these infectious events are associated with the onset of chronic orofacial muscle pain in 67% of patients.

O'Connor W, Gifford SP, Macfarlane GR, Dunstan RH, 'Mollusc culture development on the Australian east coast: issues, perceptions and management measures', World Aquaculture 2005: International peace and development through aquaculture, Bali, Indonesia (2005) [E3]

Kuczera GA, Coombes PJ, Dunstan RH, Spinks AT, Holz LM, Kalma JD, 'Integrated Management Of The Urban Water Cycle From The Allotment To The Regional Scale: Opportunities And Benefits', Proceedings Of The International Conference On Water And Environment (WE-2003), Bhopal, India (2003) [E2]

The Development of Microbial Fuel Cells Using High Mineral Ash BiocharsChemical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyCo-Supervisor

2011

Streptomyces as a Source of Geosmin and 2-Methylisoborneol Associated Taste and Odour Episodes in Drinking Water ReservoirsEnvironmental Studies, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyCo-Supervisor

2011

The Effect of Environmental Stressors on Proteomic Homeostasis of Staphylococci SpeciesBiological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyCo-Supervisor

2010

Alterations of Metabolic Homeostasis in Staphylococcus Spp. in Response to Environmental ChallengesBiological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyPrincipal Supervisor

Past Supervision

Year

Research Title / Program / Supervisor Type

2012

Variations in Inorganic and Organic Composition of Roof-Harvested Rainwater: Studies at the Regional and Individual Site Level in Eastern and Southern AustraliaBiological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyPrincipal Supervisor

2012

Shallow Groundwater Quality and Transport of Contaminants from a Domestic Wastewater SystemEnvironmental Studies, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyCo-Supervisor

Molluscan Biomonitor for Quantification and Impact Assessment of Estrogenic and Metallic Contaminants in Australian Marine EcosystemsEnvironmental Studies, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyCo-Supervisor

Early Life Determinants of the Effect of the Endogenous Cannabinoid System on Health Outcomes in AdulthoodPsychology, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyCo-Supervisor

2007

Dogs, Dwellings and Disease: A Study of Free - Roaming Dogs in a Remote Aboriginal CommunityBiological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyCo-Supervisor

2006

Environmental Considerations Associated with the Development of an Akoya Pearl Aquaculture Industry in NSW, AustraliaBiological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyPrincipal Supervisor